Parole

Every job has its nagging aspects, and deciding whether or not to parole prisoners serving life sentences has long been a troublesome issue for governors across the country. They seldom win applause for it, and even seemingly sound decisions can come back to sting, as Michael Dukakis and Mike Huckabee found out. But it is part of the job description. Except that Gov. Martin O'Malley has apparently decided it's not part of his. The Maryland Parole Commission has sent 50 release recommendations to O'Malley, who has neither accepted nor rejected the proposals.

Hagerstown Police were looking Friday for two men wanted for parole/probation violations. Anthony Leroy Huse, 19, is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He has a history of theft charges. John Daniel Mumma, 40, is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. He has a history of assault and drug charges. Police ask anyone who knows the whereabouts of these men to call 911 or the Hagerstown Police Department at 301-790-3700.

While doing some recent research in regard to my family tree, I came across a character from the late 1920s who shot and killed a prohibition agent on the road from Boonsboro. I even discovered a transcript of the trial. This individual was given a life sentence in March 1927 and was pardoned in 1942 by Maryland Gov. Herbert O'Connor, after serving 15 years. During his incarceration, he painted a picture of Christ holding a lamb that still hangs on the wall of the Samples Manor Church, just a stone's throw from Dargan.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. ? Stephen R. Fielder's bid for a new trial or acquittal was denied Monday, meaning the Berkeley County attorney will be spending the rest of his life behind bars. "I believe there was ample evidence before the jury that there was malice in this case," 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge David H. Sanders said before telling Fielder, 59, that he would be incarcerated for the remaining years of his life and not be eligible for parole. Fielder was convicted of first-degree murder last month in the grisly death of his ex-wife.

Parole denied; convict blames typewriter ribbon An inmate at a Washington County prison is suing a typewriter company for $29,000, alleging he would have won an appeal if his ribbon hadn't broken. Kelvin J. Miles, who is serving a 45-year sentence for kidnapping and assault at Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, filed suit Oct. 12 against the Brother International Corp. of Bartlett, Tenn. Miles said in his court documents filed at the Washington County Circuit Court that the ribbon broke while he was typing a brief and as result he was denied parole during an August hearing.

HAGERSTOWN -- A man convicted twice for the 2003 murder of a 68-year-old Smithsburg woman in her home must be resentenced, and might one day be eligible for parole, according to a Maryland Court of Special Appeals decision. Jack L. Hammersla Jr., 51, was found guilty of first-degree felony murder in the Nov. 12, 2003, bludgeoning death of Shirley P. Finfrock. Washington County Circuit Judge Donald Beachley sentenced him Nov. 21, 2006, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for that conviction and to a concurrent 30-year sentence for second-degree murder in Finfrock's death.

ANNAPOLIS - Anguished stories of abuse and death were aired Tuesday at a state bill hearing on eliminating parole for certain sex offenders. The bill would force people at least 18 years old whose sex-crime victims were younger than 13 to serve all of their mandatory minimum sentences. Maryland hasn't been immune from the "worst of the worst" sex-abuse cases, Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, testified, recalling the 2000 sexual assault and death of 9-year-old Christopher Ausherman in Frederick, Md. Shank is sponsoring the House version of the bill, which is titled "Jessica's Law" after a 9-year-old Florida girl raped and killed in 2005.

By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer, Charles Town file photo CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Patricia Turner said she had been looking forward to the day when Rickey E. Carey would be "locked up like a wild animal" for the shooting and stabbing death of her daughter, Lori Lynn Curry. cont. from front page On Monday, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Thomas W. Steptoe Jr. sentenced Carey to life in prison without parole for the slaying of Curry, 24. Before Carey's sentencing, Steptoe gave Curry's family members a chance to speak.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. ? A man wanted on a parole violation was arrested Tuesday in Martinsburg, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force said in a news release. Astley Rose Brown, 31, was arrested without incident on Liberty Street by members of the Martinsburg City Police and U.S. Marshals Service, who were responding to a tip that Brown was seen in the Center Street area. Brown was sentenced to 58 months of incarceration with three years of supervision to follow. Shortly after his release from federal prison in 2007, Brown's probation was violated and a warrant issued, according to the news release.

A Waynesboro, Pa., man pleaded guilty Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to three counts of first-degree murder in the 2012 shootings of his estranged wife, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's mother, and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole. Kevin Mathew Cleeves, 36, formerly of 601 W. Main St., pleaded guilty to the July 27, 2012, shooting deaths of his estranged wife, Brandi N. Killingsworth Cleeves, 25, in the driveway of her boyfriend's home on Pa. 997. In the same incident, he shot and killed Brandi Cleeves' boyfriend, Vincent Luke Santucci Jr., 28; and Santucci's mother, Rosemary Holma, 55. The three-hour sentencing hearing took place amid tight security, with a half dozen or more uniformed deputies in the courtroom at any one time.

A Hagerstown man with three previous felony drug convictions was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a fourth conviction last week in Washington County Circuit Court. Judge Dana Moylan Wright told Shamar Tahi Anderson on Thursday that he will not be eligible for parole until he has served the first 10 years of his sentence for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Anderson, 33, of 241 Prospect St., was scheduled for a jury trial Thursday, but entered into a plea agreement after a bench conference.

A 56-year-old man sentenced Monday in Berkeley County Circuit Court for sexually assaulting a pastor's son in 2002 is expected to serve 21 years in prison before he will be eligible for parole. Ronald Dewayne Smith was ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes to serve two, 10- to 20-year prison sentences along with a 1- to 5-year prison term consecutively, according to Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gregory K. Jones. Smith was found guilty of two counts of sexual abuse by a custodian and one count of third-degree sexual assault in a jury trial in April.

Hagerstown Police were looking Friday for two men wanted for parole/probation violations. Anthony Leroy Huse, 19, is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He has a history of theft charges. John Daniel Mumma, 40, is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes. He has a history of assault and drug charges. Police ask anyone who knows the whereabouts of these men to call 911 or the Hagerstown Police Department at 301-790-3700.

Three people accused of attacking and robbing a former Berkeley County commissioner last summer are expected to serve at least 13 years in prison before being eligible for parole, according to a Berkeley County assistant prosecuting attorney. Jennifer Marie Barnhart, 32, Brian Lance Shamburg, 31, and Ronald Lee Shamburg, 23, all of Martinsburg,  were each sentenced Tuesday by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III to 40 years in prison for first-degree robbery, one to five years in prison for conspiracy and two to 10 years in prison for malicious assault.

The Washington County Parole and Probation Office will be holding a meeting of certain registered sex offenders on Monday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., according to a news release. The required gathering is scheduled to coincide with Halloween and trick-or-treat activities in most communities, the release said. The Washington County Sheriff's Office is partnering with the parole and probation office by providing assistance with a location and staffing, the release said.

While doing some recent research in regard to my family tree, I came across a character from the late 1920s who shot and killed a prohibition agent on the road from Boonsboro. I even discovered a transcript of the trial. This individual was given a life sentence in March 1927 and was pardoned in 1942 by Maryland Gov. Herbert O'Connor, after serving 15 years. During his incarceration, he painted a picture of Christ holding a lamb that still hangs on the wall of the Samples Manor Church, just a stone's throw from Dargan.

Every job has its nagging aspects, and deciding whether or not to parole prisoners serving life sentences has long been a troublesome issue for governors across the country. They seldom win applause for it, and even seemingly sound decisions can come back to sting, as Michael Dukakis and Mike Huckabee found out. But it is part of the job description. Except that Gov. Martin O'Malley has apparently decided it's not part of his. The Maryland Parole Commission has sent 50 release recommendations to O'Malley, who has neither accepted nor rejected the proposals.

As the Maryland General Assembly moves closer toward pressing the governor on parole recommendations, two local Republicans are on opposite sides of the debate. The House of Delegates has passed a bill that would force the governor to act within 90 days when the state Parole Commission recommends parole for an inmate who has served at least 25 years of a life sentence. Starting Oct. 1, if the governor didn’t disapprove, the parole recommendation automatically would be granted.

Sen. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, pitched a two-part idea for criminal justice reform on Thursday to a Senate committee. Shank and Del. Michael J. Hough, R-Frederick/Washington, are pushing for measures they say could make the prison system fairer and less crowded and help cut crime. One bill would set up a pilot program to assess prisoners' risks and needs to lessen their likelihood of committing new crimes after they're released. A second bill would create a new system of graduated sanctions for technical parole and probation violations, letting the state impose fast but fair sanctions administratively.